Local air monitoring
Southeast Newport News Atmospheric Pollution Survey, 1956
Th City of Newport News hired Froehling and Robertson Inc., a Richmond-based chemical engineering firm, to quantify the amount of coal in airborne particles. The study was in response to a coal dust-related complaint to the Newport News City Council by the Garden-Shores Civic League.[1][2] Froehling and Robertson Inc. installed ten dust collection stations in the Stuart Gardens-Christopher Shores area of Southeast Newport News. Each station consisted of two-foot square glass plates coated with a neutral paper and mounted on outdoor platforms. Every few days, technicians removed the paper coatings to analyze the settled particles in a laboratory for the presence of coal. Samples were collected for 30 days.[3]
The study demonstrated that coal was prevalent in airborne particles, with as much as 45% of collected airborne being coal in one measurement period for the station located at 15th Street and Wickham Avenue. City Manager J. C. Biggins reported to Newport News City Council that some stations were destroyed during the study period.[4][5]
Council reject passing an ordinance against "offenders," according to a letter from Biggins to Blanchard (President of the Garden-Shores Civic League) because it "might have a detrimental effect on the economic and industrial life of this city."
Outcome was fog curtain
Biggins provided draft ordinance designed to control the sources of air pollution, including from coal terminals.
Documents
- Newport News to Analyze Smoke and Soot Nuisance in Garden-Shores Sector, Daily Press, April 4, 1954
- Study of Air Pollution Set to Start Soon, Daily Press, September 21, 1956
- 10 Dust Collection Stations, Daily Press, October 4, 1956
- Council, Daily Press, November 27, 1956
- Council, Daily Press, December 4, 1956
- C&O to Install Costly Equipment for Control of Air Pollution in NN, Daily Press, December 12, 1956
- Council Gets Air Pollution Control Plan, Daily Press, December 18, 1956
- Annual PM10 Monitoring Data Report for Norfolk Southern’s Coal Pier – Lambert's Point, Norfolk, Virginia, October 11, 2016
- Public Health Implications of PM10 Concentrations Collected near Lambert’s Point Coal Terminal, July 19, 2017
References
- ↑ Newport News to Analyze Smoke and Soot Nuisance in Garden-Shores Sector, Daily Press, April 4, 1954.
- ↑ Study of Air Pollution Set to Start Soon, Daily Press, September 21, 1956.
- ↑ 10 Dust Collection Stations, Daily Press, October 4, 1956.
- ↑ Council, Daily Press, December 4, 1956.
- ↑ C&O to Install Costly Equipment for Control of Air Pollution in NN, Daily Press, December 12, 1956.